Chapter 640: Imagination - 640
Skymender shook his head and walked back to his room. He stayed there until he was hungry again, and left promptly.
There were clocks everywhere, and Skymender was able to easily tell the time wherever he went.
He went to bed early and woke up before he needed to leave. He spent his time getting dressed and reading before leaving his house. He walked to the Education Building, seeing others along the way. He was early, but not even close to the earliest. Around half of the people were there before him.
Skymender sat in the same seat as before. So did everyone else.
At exactly 8 AM, the Imperial Scholar entered the room. He looked around for a moment.
"Good. Nobody is missing. Let's begin. Today, you will be receiving your badges."
The Imperial Scholar picked up a box from the ground and sat it on his desk.
"Everyone come up and get theirs."
Everyone stood up and walked towards the box. Due to him being the farthest away, when he got there, there was only one badge left, his.
It had his name on it and a number below it. The number was currently two.
"All of you start out with two points. One for being alive, and the other for reaching the Imperial Scholar Camp Campus. These are the easiest points that will come to you. Unlike yesterday, you will learn something not philosophical, but more school-like. Everyone take out a notebook and a writing utensil."
Skymender reached into his bag, which had been in his dorm, and took out a notebook and a writing utensil. They were different from most papers and writing utensils he saw, the writing utensil being small and compact, while the paper was stacked on each other and connected with rings.
It was modern, very modern.
The Imperial Scholar spoke. "Everyone here speaks the same language, English, but not everyone speaks it the same. There are different accents, different dialogues, and even different words in different places. Therefore, we will study the most primitive, and also the most original form of english. It will be studied properly, as it was always intended to be."
The Imperial Scholar spoke of spelling, grammar, and even new words that most had never heard. He explained ancient myths about the origin of English.
"Some say that English dates back thousands or tens of thousands of years. Some say that English did not even originate with humanity. Stories tell of gods giving humans the ability to express themselves, being eventually called English. Other stories tell of ancient beings, making random sounds to express themselves, and over thousands of years creating language."
Many had heard bits and pieces of such stories, but the Imperial Scholar managed to make it fascinating.
He went over specifics and technicalities until the sun began to set.
Finally, he asked a question. "Why is English the only language? Assuming that others can be created, which is proven by the existence of English, why is there no other language? Some say that English is the way of the Universe itself. That it is the truest form of expression. However, I find myself more partial to believing in what some would call a fantasy. Perhaps, this is intentional. Perhaps some truly almighty being altered the thoughts of humans in order to allow just one language. There may be code languages or made up words, but there is only one language of origin, English. I want you to think about this question tonight as you lay awake. What is the most believable to you?"
With this, the Imperial Scholar ended his lecture. His words indeed made everyone think, including Skymender.
Although he had learnt an awful lot today, the last question stood out, rattling around in his brain. He even skipped dinner, not feeling hungry.
He sided with the Imperial Scholar, believing some sort of mythical almighty being could have altered the thoughts and ideas of all humans. However, was such a thing true? It was hardly even believable. There was little evidence of such a being. The most mythical things in the world were the Temple and Swordmasters.
Swordmasters were as mysterious as priests and priestesses, but above both of them was the god of the Temple, Yhwh.
Perhaps he was that almighty being, or perhaps there was someone even above him. Perhaps he had been another ordinary human at a time, his brain and thoughts long having been altered.
These were naturally things that he, a young mortal, shouldn't be thinking about, but he thought about them nonetheless. He continued further down his thoughts until he fell asleep. He still woke up on time. After all, no matter how deep in thought he was, he was not an idiot.
The next day, he returned to class. The Imperial Scholar arrived at the same time as always and spoke.
"So, what did you all think about last night?"
Nobody volunteered, so he looked around. Finally, he pointed at Skymender.
"What did you think about?"
Skymender spoke after hesitating a moment.
"I thought about the idea of altered thoughts, and eventually, I came to the conclusion that perhaps Yhwh, the god of the Temple, could be behind it, if it was true of course."
The Imperial Scholar nodded.
But Skymender continued. "Then, I thought that perhaps Yhwh had once been a mortal human like us. Maybe from birth, even his thoughts had been altered. Perhaps there is an almighty being that we cannot imagine living in the Universe."
Skymender's thoughts silenced the classroom for a moment. A few people looked at him like he was crazy. A few others simply seemed surprised.
The Imperial Scholar spoke with a smile. "Most stop thinking once they reach the point of Yhwh. However, those who think even deeper will come up with a myriad of possibilities. Just as important as intelligence and talent is imagination. Think about what others can't, imagine what others dare not, keep going until you reach the end, then go even further. Perhaps there was a being before Yhwh that changed the thoughts of everyone. Perhaps this beings parents were even stronger than him. Perhaps he is dead, perhaps he is alive. Maybe he had existed since the beginning of the Universe. Maybe he will exist until the end. Maybe a being will one day rise up and kill that being, taking his spot. Perhaps that person could be standing in this very room."
The Imperial Scholar came to a sudden stop. "Think about what others cannot."
Chapter 641: English Test - 641
Although this seemed like a good place to end for the day, class had only just begun. After a moment, the Imperial Scholar spoke again.
"One intelligence point to Skymender." He said.
Skymender nodded. With this, he had three. Although it didn't give him access to anything he had not already had access to, it was a starting point. Plus, as of now, he had more intelligence points than everyone else.
"If you want more intelligence points, then you should answer questions when I ask them." The Imperial Scholar said. Everyone nodded their heads.
The Imperial Scholar started with his lecture, continuing to talk about the English language.
This lecture ended earlier than the previous one. Skymender returned to his house, went out to eat, and fell asleep. The next day, the Imperial Scholar came on time as usual.
Noticeably, the leaderboard had names on it. Skymender was at the top, with a three next to his name. It seemed that intelligence points would determine the positions of the ranking.
"Over these last few days, I have talked about the English language. Today, I have brought numerous scholars from the Imperial Capital to test your knowledge. I hope that none of you disappoint me. Good performances will be rewarded with Intelligence points."
As he finished speaking, sixteen scholars entered the room. They were not like the scholars that had brought them and guided them a bit such as Scholar Ming, but were clearly more refined and more scholarly.
They all bowed to the Imperial Scholar before lining up and looking at the students.
The Imperial Scholar spoke. "Everyone, come and choose someone to test your abilities. Not everyone will test you equally. It is up to your luck, or perhaps your identification skill, whether who you pick is lenient or very strict."
Everyone stood up rather quickly as he finished speaking.
Many people analyzed it, but Skymender didn't. He understood that the Imperial Scholar wouldn't make it easy to guess who was who.
There would be many twists and turns to guess who was who. Skymender did not think that he could win against the Imperial Scholars' intelligence.
He looked across the stage. People would probably put on false fronts to make them seem nicer, though they may be strict, but as he had said, the Imperial Scholar could have designed this. Maybe it was a double false front. Those who looked nice were actually nice, while those who looked mean were actually mean.
As Skymender had said, it was impossible for him to figure out.
It seemed like most of the students would waste their time and energy thinking about how to pick, but a few, such as Skymender, would save all of their time and energy for the test.
How did Skymender choose? He simply went up to the first person from the left.
The scholar he chose spoke. "Bold choice, young one."
Skymender nodded. "No point in wasting time."
"So be it. Don't regret it." The scholar said.
"I never regret my decisions."
Skymender was the first to choose, and he waited for others to do so.
Meanwhile, the Imperial Scholar wrote another ranking list numbered one through sixteen. The big one was for the overall Imperial Scholar Camp ranking, while the one he was creating was for just this test.
After a few minutes, everyone had selected someone.
"Alright. Disperse."
The various scholars began to walk away, the students that had selected them following.
Skymender's chosen scholar actually stayed in the room with him. This would be their testing location.
Skymender sat in a front row seat while the scholar sat on the stage in front of him, thought not at the Imperial Scholars desk.
He simply began to talk.
"So, what is your name?"
"My name is Skymender."
"Nice to meet you Skymender, you can call me Scholar Tie."
"Nice to meet you too, Scholar Tie."
Skymender's throat was already starting to hurt from all the talking, but this was part of his test. He couldn't simply ignore it. He was just at a disadvantage from the start.
"I can see that you wear a mask as well as a glove. What happened? Or is it just a fashion choice?"
Skymender responded. "I accidentally inhaled some poison. I can never breathe the same."
Scholar Tie nodded with sympathy. "I see. I can tell that even this is starting to get to you. I apologise in advance. So, why do you wear a glove?"
"I accidentally touched some poison. It is scarred, never to recover."
"I see. What is another word for putting yourself above others?"
"Arrogance."
"What is it called to enjoy others suffering?"
"Schadenfreude."
"That word doesn't conform to typical English. Where did that word come from?"
"It is considered to have come from an eastern dialect mispronouncing words. However, it is just a theory."
"What is…?"
"Scoliosis."
"What is…?"
"Mend."
"One who does that is called?"
"Mender."
"What is blue and above our heads?"
"Sky."
"What is one who mends the sky, theoretically, called?"
"A Skymender."
"Haha." The Scholar laughed.
Skymender barely stopped himself from rolling his eyes.
"What is…?"
"Tungsten."
"What about…?"
"Armadillo."
"And…?"
"Mellifluous."
"What is…?"
"Quintessence."
…
Finally after over an hour, the Scholar asked one last question.
"What is it known as when you experience an unexpected delightful moment?"
"Serendipity?"
Skymender began to violently cough.
"That concludes it. You'll hear your results from the Imperial Scholar. You can wait here."
The Scholar left. As he opened the door, three other students entered. They had been waiting outside.
Two of them seemed normal, but one had an unsightly look on his face.
Skymender waited for another hour, and everyone had entered the room.
As the Imperial Scholar entered, Skymender was barely able to hold in his coughs.
He did not say a word, stepping on the movable ladder and starting from the bottom of the board.
Skymender watched, not recognizing most of the names, until finally, his was written.
Fourth place, Skymender.
Considering how distracted he had been by his throat, it was a miracle he had reached that high.
Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
121 Power
stone 
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